ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the traditional idol-crafting practice, how it benefits from the geographic and urban locations, where materials came from historically, and how these are procured now. This chapter first details the age-old sustainable materiality of idol-crafting and worshipping practice and how that relates to spiritual values and norms. Then it begins to uncover the reasons for the contemporary deviations in the crafting practice due to Durga Puja’s changing consumption patterns, spectacular and competitive festive installations, and tourism pressures. The scale of production, transactions, and exchanges are detailed to present the wider political economy of Durga Puja festivities. This chapter closes by discussing the unsustainable consumption patterns slowly displacing traditional practices to give way to newer iconic idol-crafting that satisfies the tourism and government’s vision.
